Biomaterial Database

Ten years of snake bite in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. 1988

B J Hudson, and K Pomat

Madang General Hospital, Madang, Papua New Guinea.

A retrospective study was conducted of possible and definite snake bite admissions to Madang General Hospital, Papua New Guinea, for the years 1977 to 1986 inclusive. There were 175 such admissions and case notes were found for 129. Envenoming was recorded in 64 cases. Tender regional lymphadenopathy and ptosis were the most common signs of envenoming. No case of coagulopathy was recorded. 16 cases had clinical evidence of myotoxicity; in 3 of these a description of the offending snake suggested that it was the small-eyed snake (Micropechis ikaheka). Among 41 patients receiving antivenom, there was only one serious adverse reaction. This is the first study of snake bite in the New Guinea region; it shows similarities with, but also important differences from, snake bite studies in the Papua region of Papua New Guinea.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D010219	Papua New Guinea	A country consisting of the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and adjacent islands, including New Britain, New Ireland, the Admiralty Islands, and New Hanover in the Bismarck Archipelago; Bougainville and Buka in the northern Solomon Islands; the D'Entrecasteaux and Trobriand Islands; Woodlark (Murua) Island; and the Louisiade Archipelago. It became independent on September 16, 1975. Formerly, the southern part was the Australian Territory of Papua, and the northern part was the UN Trust Territory of New Guinea, administered by Australia. They were administratively merged in 1949 and named Papua and New Guinea, and renamed Papua New Guinea in 1971.	New Guinea, East,New Guinea, Papua
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D000997	Antivenins	Antisera used to counteract poisoning by animal VENOMS, especially SNAKE VENOMS.	Anti-Venin,Anti-Venom,Antivenin,Antivenom,Anti-Venins,Anti-Venoms,Antivenoms,Anti Venin,Anti Venins,Anti Venom,Anti Venoms
D012189	Retrospective Studies	Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.	Retrospective Study,Studies, Retrospective,Study, Retrospective
D012621	Seasons	Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)	Seasonal Variation,Season,Seasonal Variations,Variation, Seasonal,Variations, Seasonal
D012909	Snake Bites	Bites by snakes. Bite by a venomous snake is characterized by stinging pain at the wound puncture. The venom injected at the site of the bite is capable of producing a deleterious effect on the blood or on the nervous system. (Webster's 3d ed; from Dorland, 27th ed, at snake, venomous)	Envenomation, Snakebite,Snake Envenomation,Snake Envenoming,Snakebite Envenoming,Snakebites,Bite, Snake,Envenomation, Snake,Envenoming, Snake,Envenoming, Snakebite,Snake Bite,Snake Envenomations,Snake Envenomings,Snakebite,Snakebite Envenomation,Snakebite Envenomations,Snakebite Envenomings